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Urbanista #5 Kormakitis’ abandoned elementary school in Cyprus

Hidden on the North-West of Island of Cyprus, one small village, still keep memories of what happened around 40 years ago. Until the Turkish invasion of 1974, the town of Kormakitis was known as a center of Maronite culture, but according to United Nations estimates only 165 Maronites remained in Northern Cyprus in 2001. The village school was constructed in 1962, and it was able to enroll 210 students and employ seven teachers.

The Maronites in Cyprus are members of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus whose ancestors migrated from present-day Lebanon during the Middle Ages.

They traditionally speak their own variety of Arabic in addition to Greek. As Eastern Catholics of the West Syrian Rite, they are in full communion with the Catholic Church of Rome.